Q. What is the Thompson Library's link resolver?

A link resolver is an online tool that connects online citations to your library's collections. For example, if you find an article citation in one source which does not have the article itself, a link resolver in that database will see if the article is available to you in another database. Many of our databases have our link resolver activated, and you'll see links or icons that say "Find full text" or something similar.

Rarely, you may have to add our link resolver to an online resource yourself. Zotero is one example of this. For Zotero's Library Lookup feature, use this:

• https://umich.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/openurl?institution=01UMICH_INST&vid=01UMICH_INST:FLINT

For other resources, if you are asked to add the base URL to a link resolver, use one of these. (If one does not work, try the other):

• https://umich.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/openurl/01UMICH_INST/01UMICH_INST:FLINT
• https://umich.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/openurl/01UMICH_INST/01UMICH_INST:FLINT?

Note that these strings work in conjunction with OpenURL linking, and not by themselves.

More commonly, you can use some of our other tools to get articles you find outside library databases:

• FAQ: How do I open an article I found on the Web?

A more technical definition of link resolvers from ODLIS: Online Dictionary for Library and Information Science.